This week, Carson and I went on a last-minute trip to Morocco! As our time in Barcelona is coming to an end, the three of us have started to plan our journeys post-Europe since you are only allowed to stay in Europe for 90 days within a 180 day period. We had each bought flights to leave Europe in early January. To make a long story short, our 90 days were going to be up before we were leaving. So Mallory, Carson, and I each had to leave Europe to “regain” those additional days and push back the date we needed to be out of Europe. Carson and I needed to be out of Europe for 5 days, so we came to Morocco! It was an unexpected addition to our schedule, but we had a great time in Casablanca and Tangier.

Sunday, December 11th – Casablanca:

We had a fairly long travel day with a layover in Madrid. We landed in Casablanca around 6:00 pm and tried to get a taxi to our Airbnb. There was a bit of confusion as we tried to get ourselves a ride. We found a line of taxis, and one of the men in charge directed us over to the first taxi in line. We showed the driver the address we needed to be taken to, and he did not want to take us. The driver and the man who had walked us over there started talking back and forth in Arabic. We aren’t entirely sure what the issue was, but we think the address was too far for his liking. They kept taking our bags out of the trunk, putting them back in, walking to another vehicle, etc. We eventually got into a taxi that was willing to drive to our address, borrowed a card machine to pay for the ride in advance, and made our way to our Airbnb.

Actually getting into our apartment was another fiasco in itself. The front door to the apartment building was propped open, so we walked right in. All the lights were off, so it was a bit scary and I made Carson lead the way. Our apartment was on the 4th floor, so we took the elevator. Strangely, the elevator would stop and the doors would open, but we were in between floors. It felt like we were on the Tower of Terror. It kept doing that over and over again, so we took the elevator back down to the ground floor and decided to take the stairs instead. We had to push a button on each floor to keep the lights on, otherwise the lights would turn off unexpectedly. When we reached the final flight of stairs we needed to climb, the whole staircase was blocked with empty boxes. We had to carry our luggage and squeeze up the narrowest part of the spiral staircase to make it up. We finally made it to the apartment and tried to open the lockbox to get the key. It took me a minute to realize I was trying to open the lockbox for the wrong apartment. As we were laughing about this, the lights went off! I went to press the button for the lights but instead accidentally rang the doorbell for another apartment. Someone came to the door and we had to try and explain that it was an accident! We finally opened the correct lockbox and made it safely into our Airbnb. We had been cracking up the entire journey up to our apartment.

After we got settled in, we walked to a nearby restaurant called Le Kimmy’z for dinner. We ate lots of bread and butter and shared a bottle of white wine. Carson got oysters and beef, and I got pasta arrabiata. We then headed back to the apartment and called it a night.

Monday, December 12th – Casablanca:

We spent the morning at the Hassan II Mosque, which is one of the few mosques in Morocco that allows non-Muslim visitors. I’m so glad we were able to go on a guided tour of the mosque and learn all about it. The mosque is fairly new; construction started in 1987 and was finished in 1993. It is MASSIVE inside. When people come to the mosque for prayer, the inside can house 20,000 people, and the outdoor area can hold 80,000. My favorite part of the mosque was the ceiling, which can be opened like a skylight. It was closed while we were there, but it is opened regularly during the summer for ventilation. Since the mosque is so new, it is technologically advanced in a lot of ways. The ceiling can be opened at the touch of a button, and it only takes two minutes despite its massive size and weight. There are also speakers built into mosque and hidden within the decor. The center aisle of the mosque is sectioned off because it is the path taken by the King when he visits the mosque. There is an area in the center of the mosque along the King’s path that has glass windows on the floor surrounding it. You can look through the windows and see into the downstairs area where people wash themselves before prayer. When the King comes to visit, these little glass windows, which are about a foot deep, are filled with water. Our guide said that when they are filled with water and the ceiling is open, the sunshine reflecting on the water makes it look like the ocean and as if the King is walking on water. I can only imagine how magical that looks!

Afterwards, we went to a nearby restaurant called Le Gatsby’s for lunch that our guide at the mosque had recommended to us. Carson got chicken tagine, I got a vegetarian pizza, and we both got smoothies.

The thing we were most looking forward to today was an activity that we booked through Airbnb. We took an Arabic calligraphy class! Our teacher Abderriham was kind enough to meet us at our lunch spot and get an Uber with us back to his house where we would be having class. We were kind of far away, so it was really nice of him to go out of his way to come get us. When we arrived at Abderriham’s house, he told us that we would start off by having lunch! Of course, Carson and I had literally just eaten lunch… but we didn’t want to be rude! Abderriham’s mom had made couscous and vegetables. It was delicious, but wow, we were stuffed!! It was nice to eat a homemade Moroccan lunch and get to know Abderriham before starting the calligraphy lesson.

Once we were done with lunch, Abderriham pulled up a PowerPoint presentation to teach us all about Arabic calligraphy. He goes into schools to teach these same lessons to kids. We got to learn a lot about the history and evolution of Arabic calligraphy, and he showed us many examples of different fonts of Arabic and how it is truly an art. Something that stuck with both Carson and I was an analogy that Abderriham used by saying that Arabic is like water; it can take the shape of whatever container you put it in. He showed us a lot of examples of advertisements or works of art with Arabic writing that creates the shape of something unique like an ostrich. Carson and I had such a hard time wrapping our heads around all of this information since we can’t recognize all the letters individually, but we were amazed! We also got to learn a lot about the tools that are used, and it is truly incredible how everything has a meaning. The “pens” have an angled edge, and each point has a specific name to help make sure you are holding it correctly. The point that is closest to you is named “human” in Arabic because it is closest to you and your heart. The point that is farthest from you is named “monster” in Arabic because you want to keep the monsters away.

After all that we had learned about Arabic calligraphy, we were ready to try it ourselves! We watched Abderriham demonstrate writing each of our names, and then took a crack at it ourselves. Arabic is read right to left, so we felt like we were writing backwards. We also learned that Arabic can technically be written without vowels and still be understood. The points that are added above or below letters dictate the specific sound that letter makes. Carson and I spent a ton of time practicing writing our names over and over again. Abderriham was so nice and said that he was really impressed with us both! I was very proud of myself. Once I got in the groove, I just wanted to keep writing my name again and again. It was so fun! At the end of the class, Abderriham wrote both of our full names on a decorative name plate. He used a different font than what we had practiced, so it is more decorative. It’s cool to compare his version of my name with what I had been practicing. Even though they don’t look identical, I can now see the similarities and be able to identify where it says “Eva”.

We cleaned up our supplies and ended class with Moroccan tea and sweets. We also got to meet Abderriham’s niece Inas who had just come home from school. She didn’t speak English, but she was so cute! She sat with us for a few minutes and then retreated upstairs. Abderriham’s sister had made the sweets, and they were so tasty.

During the class, Abderriham had asked us if we had been to a certain part of the city yet. When we said that we hadn’t, he offered to take us there when we were done with class. We got to experience a shared taxi ride, which was really fun. It functions like half-taxi, half-bus. It’s a taxi cab, but there were seven people squished inside each with a different destination. Abdherriham walked us around the Old Medina, the markets, and near the Royal Palace. He showed us some of his favorite spots and treated us to some drinks and snacks. Carson had casually asked what the best street food was in Casablanca. Abderriham had said it was a donut, so we said we would have to try it later! Little did we know that he led us to the complete other side of town just to take us to the best donut stand in the city. He got us each one of the donuts, which had lots of crispy layers like a croissant with a jelly filling, and Moroccan tea. We hadn’t even been asking him to do that, but he was so kind to take us there regardless. We also tried some fruit juice from a nearby fruit stand before parting ways with Abderriham. Carson and I were so overwhelmed by Abderriham’s kindness and generosity! He had spent six hours hosting us and giving us a tour of the city!

Tuesday, December 13th – Casablanca:

We had another fun activity planned for today: a cooking class! This was another experience that we had booked through Airbnb, so the class was held in our host Inas’s home. Inas welcomed us into her home where we met her brother Mohamed and their adorable cat Stormy. Their home was so beautifully decorated. We started the class by learning how to make Moroccan tea, which we enjoyed with a platter of sweets. Meanwhile, we chatted and got to know each other.

Then, we got to planning our meals for the day. We made tagine (a traditional dish cooked in a tagine pot with lots of vegetables and spices, plus chicken in Carson’s), zaalouk (a side dish made with barbecued eggplant and peppers and mixed with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and spices), taktouka (another side dish made with barbecued green peppers, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and spices), and Moroccan salad (tomatoes, onion, and parsley). We wrote a list of all the ingredients that we would need and walked 10 minutes down the road with Inas and Mohamed to the local souk (market). We got all of our ingredients fresh from local vendors, and I swear we bought enough food to feed a village. You could only buy the produce in quantities of 1 kilogram, so we ended up with so much of each ingredient. Each stand gave us a small plastic bin that we used to collect our handpicked vegetables. After our food was weighed, Inas taught us how to say “thank you” so we could pay the vendors ourselves. I was so amazed at the prices of this food. For some of the ingredients, we bought a whole kilogram for 5 Moroccan Dirham, which is about $0.50 USD.

Once we got back to Inas’s house, the real work began. Mohamed had to leave, but before he left he put on some traditional Moroccan music for us to listen to as we cooked. Considering how much food we got at the market, I should have predicted this… but we cooked for SO LONG. We were chopping and peeling for over three hours. Carson and I were both exhausted, and neither of us had eaten breakfast so we were starving. The class was listed on Airbnb as 9:00 am-12:00 pm. We didn’t even get back from the market until 12:00 pm… so we knew that we would be there for quite some time. (We learned throughout our trip that “Moroccan time”, as we came to call it, is very relaxed) The only problem was that Carson had work that day at 3:00 pm, which was why we had signed up for the morning time. We should have told Inas this from the beginning, but even with “Moroccan time” taken into consideration, we didn’t expect to be there long enough for it to be a problem anyway. So we chopped, peeled, mixed, and seasoned from 12:00-3:00pm. At 3:00pm, we were finally done chopping everything and just had to wait for the tagine to cook. Carson had slipped out to make a phone call to a coworker who could cover for him for a little while. When he came back, I asked Inas how long the tagine needed to cook. She replied, “one hour!”, and Carson and I gave each other a wide eyed look. At this point, we did end up telling Inas that Carson had work and that we would need to leave by 5:00 pm at the latest.

By now, Inas’s mom and dad were home. Inas’s mom was supposed to help teach the class with her, but she had had to go to the hospital the day before and wasn’t able to make it. She had been really bummed and even asked if we could reschedule the class so she could be there, but this was our last day in Casablanca. Luckily, she was able to come home in time to see us! She didn’t speak English, but she was the most enthusiastic person I have ever met! She greeted us both with the tightest hugs and turned up the music and danced! While Inas started setting the table, Carson and I hung out with her mom and dad. They pulled up YouTube videos on the TV of their favorite Moroccan songs and we had a big dance party!

Although we hadn’t eaten a full meal yet this day, we had been snacking a bit throughout the day on bread with olive oil, olives, and dates. After our dance party, the table was finally set, and we were ready to eat! We had ended up making SO MUCH FOOD. Carson, Inas, and I dug in and ate as much as we could. Everything was delicious! We each had small plates for the zaalouk, taktouka, and Moroccan salad. However, the tagines stayed in the large pots in the center of the table. You eat tagine with bread, so we ripped off pieces of bread and used it to scoop up the tagine. The combination of all the different dishes, plus the fact that each bite of the tagine was eaten with a piece of bread left me so full by the end of this meal. Like post-Thanksgiving dinner full. Inas even sent us home with some fruit from the market to eat later as a dessert (I was not able to eat any because I was literally still stuffed the next morning). It was now 5:00 pm, and we really did have to go. Mohamed was home by now, so we were able to say goodbye to the whole family. They were all so kind, welcoming, and gracious. They insisted that the next time we are in Casablanca that we have to come and cook with them again. They even sent us home with a painting as a gift! (Which was super nice, but we ended up having to leave it in our Airbnb because we couldn’t take it with us) It was another day that left us feeling overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the people in Morocco.

Wednesday, December 14th – Tangier:

We took a high-speed train this morning to our next location, Tangier. The host of our Airbnb here was also so kind and accommodating. I had messaged him that morning asking about the check-in process. He told me we could meet at 1:00 pm and he would hand over the keys. When I told him our train wasn’t getting in until 1:10 pm, he said we would connect later. I didn’t expect to get a message from him as our train was pulling into the station saying that he was there waiting for us. We hadn’t even asked him to come pick us up! He and his son drove us to the Airbnb and let us inside.

Carson and I went to a nearby cafe to get something to eat. I got a Nutella and banana waffle with a spiced white chocolate marshmallow drink, which tasted like a gingerbread hot chocolate. Since Carson had to work at 3:00 pm and it was pouring rain, we spent most of the rest of the day in the Airbnb.

We were very excited for our dinner plans though! We had made reservations at a restaurant on the Marina Bay to watch Morocco play in the World Cup Semi-Finals. This is the first time Morocco, or any African country, has advanced to the semi-finals. How cool that we got to watch this game in Morocco! The Moroccan people were all so excited and proud of their country, so it was really special to be there for the game. The restaurant had pulled down a big projector screen that showed the game. We got dinner and drinks, which were really good, to eat throughout the game. Although Morocco didn’t win, it was really cool to be there to watch it! Everyone in the restaurant was so excited for their team. They stood up and sang during the national anthem. They cheered for their team throughout the game. And even when the game was over and they had lost, they still cheered for their team. We even heard people celebrating throughout the night. Morocco’s pride for their team is evident, and it was such a cool experience to be able to share that with them.

Thursday, December 15th – Tangier:

We slept in this morning and hung out at the Airbnb until lunchtime when we met up with Mallory, her mom, and our friend Martin who had taken the ferry to Tangier from Spain the night before. Our lunch was amazing. I got a pea and mint soup, a falafel plate, and shared a grilled aubergine with Mallory. It was all so delicious.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Tangier exploring the Old Medina. From one of the viewpoints, you could look across the Strait of Gibraltar and see Spain! Mallory, Martin, and I went to the Kasbah museum, which housed a lot of art and antique artifacts. Later in the evening, Mallory, Carson, Martin, and I went out for dinner, and then went back to the same restaurant where Carson and I had watched the World Cup for drinks and dessert. They remembered us! It was the same hostess as the night before, so when we walked in she said, “Eva! You’re back!” She asked how we had enjoyed the game last night and everything. They were so kind.

For most of our trip, we had been able to buy everything using our credit cards with the exception of an Uber-like app called InDrive, which only accepts cash. We knew that we would be taking two InDrive rides the next day, so we made a point to find an ATM before calling it a night so that we had cash for the morning. We tried every ATM within walking distance, and even between all 4 of us, we had no luck getting any cash out. We weren’t sure whether it was because it was so late at night or what. We figured we would test our luck and try the machines again in the morning.

Friday, December 16th – Tangier:

Today, Mallory, Martin, and I were going on a day trip to Chefchaouen, which is known as the Blue City because of all the blue buildings that make up its Old Town area. We met early enough to try the ATMs again for some cash. We still had the same issues, but luckily I had $30 USD that I was able to exchange for Moroccan Dirham at a nearby currency exchange. Although, this was the only cash we had, so we needed it to last us all day.

The Blue City is about a 2.5-3 hour drive each way. We took the 9:00 am bus and arrived in Chefchaouen just before noon. It was sprinkling on and off the whole time that we were there, but we didn’t mind. The main thing to do in Chefchaouen is wander around and admire all the blue buildings. The buildings are all so beautiful, and blue is my favorite color so I was in love! There are a couple stories to explain why the city is blue. One story is that the buildings were painted blue by the Jewish communities who fled to Morocco during WWII because blue is symbolic of the sky, heaven, and God. Another story says that the blue keeps the buildings cool in the warmer months and keeps the mosquitoes away. Regardless of which story is the truth, the locals take pride in their blue buildings and repaint them often to keep their color bright. We saw so many stray cats throughout the city that we loved. We hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning, but we didn’t have enough cash to eat a meal at any restaurants (we couldn’t find any places that accepted credit cards), so we rationed our cash for an afternoon treat. Mal and I each got a Nutella and strawberry crepe, and Martin got coffee. We hung out in a cafe for a while when the rain got too heavy. We walked to see a nearby waterfall at the edge of town, where locals sometimes do their washing – when it isn’t pouring rain, of course. We eventually walked back to the bus stop for our 3:30 pm bus back to Tangier.

Martin had been with us for a few days in Barcelona the week prior, and tonight was our final dinner with all four of us since Mal’s mom had headed back to Spain already and Mal was off to meet up with her in the morning. We went to a nice restaurant near the Kasbah to celebrate. Mallory, Carson, and I always joke that waiters act surprised whenever we order at a restaurant because we just order so much, but it all looks so good! Tonight was no different. For appetizers, we ordered oysters, burrata, and goat cheese croquettes. For entrees, Mallory and Carson both got the candied lamb, Martin got the saffron risotto, and I got the four cheese ravioli with black truffle (which was so good that Mallory and I ordered another portion to share). We also got desserts and split a few bottles of wine. It was such a yummy meal, and we had a great time hanging out at the restaurant for hours.

We eventually made our way back to our Airbnbs to settle in for the night. Carson, Martin, and I were all flying back to Barcelona the next morning.

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This was such a great trip! Although Carson and I weren’t anticipating being gone for a whole week, we ended up having an awesome time. I had been to Morocco before in 2016, and while I had done some fun things, it hadn’t been the best experience. I remember not feeling entirely safe as a woman and having some uncomfortable experiences. In my conversations with my friends, I told them how I’m sure there were also people on my 2016 trip who were just as friendly as the ones I interacted with on this trip, but unfortunately, those uncomfortable interactions overshadowed the good ones. This time around, every single interaction we had was so positive, and we were truly overwhelmed by how nice, welcoming, and generous everyone was. Everyone we came into contact with went out of their way for us, which was so heartwarming. I’m glad that I was able to go back to Morocco so I could be reminded of all the great things about this country.